Monthly Archives: October 2014

A photograph of my Father in Ha’api, and myself in Nuku’alofa – in different times, but holding the same familiar expression

As we flew over Auckland (Okalani) on the way home from Nuku’alofa, I couldn’t help but imagine what this must have felt like for my tamai (father), who had made the same pilgrimage in the 70s. Leaving his small village in Ha’apai to find fuller fruits in Aotearoa. The divided fence lines, the tar-sealed roads, the dogs behind gates – this world could not be further from the dirt tracks and free-form family plots of Tonga. In a way, the plane was like a bridge, taking me from one home to another. From one world to another, yet both worlds belong to the same connecting waters.

This is how I have come to think about politics – as a bridge that connects and divides, and can sometimes lead us…

(For our opening week, we asked all our contributors to think about why they’re On The Left, and what the next three years holds for the left, the government, and New Zealand.)

Leftist politics puts people at the centre of thinking and policy.

I’m on the left because I care about people and the environment more than I care about short term personal or national economic gain. This is simplistic – I am aware that economic gain often benefits people. But marginalised individuals? Minority groups? The fragile environment we need to protect and sustain? Rarely.

I have to say I used to be fairly centrist, by which I mean I was a content Labour voter and I didn’t feel like I wanted to throw myself of a cliff when National got a second term. That was before my life was drastically changed by illness, and all the things I’ve learned…

We were also able to snag a quick interview with another ex Labour leader, Phil Goff, about his past experiences in activism and his opinion of ISIS and of Islam.

Despite the short notice (we only heard about the event the night before) and the relentless pouring rain, the spirit of the rally was really good. Thousands of passersby on the city streets stopped to watch the march go past, with several cars tooting their support as we…

The choice has been made (Or perhaps has been made far earlier than we where lead to believe). Mr Key will lead us to war. If he gets push back I reckon we’re going to see a false flag Operation “Plastic Sword” incident here in NZ and my bet is a raid on the Hamilton Mosque. Slap bank in the middle of Red Neck country!

A “domestic beheading” inspired by foreign fanatics is one of several threats New Zealand potentially faces from the so-called Islamic State, John Key said this morning.

Mr Key told The Nation a disproportionate number of Islamic State (IS) fighters were sourced from in and around Oceania. He said it was possible this would increase the likelihood of another “Bali bombing” terrorist act.

The Prime Minister said IS terrorists returning to New Zealand were another possible security risk. He said IS also posed a major risk…

Jared passed away this morning, peacefully, at home, surrounded by love. This final blog post was written on 25 September when it was clear to Jared and all close to him that his time was nearing an end. To those who have followed this blog from the beginning or picked up along the way – thank you for journeying with Jared, for your camaraderie and encouragement. Sharing this journey gave Jared more purpose and fulfilment than can be expressed in words. We are so proud of him in every way and grateful for the immense love he brought to our lives. We will miss him always. Hannah and Elise.

From Jared

On Wednesday 8th October 2014, I passed away at 1125 hours.

The time leading up to my death was mixed with days of feeling well and days of feeling pretty terrible. I am thankful that we only have to…

Make no mistake, I have many National voting friends. I love them dearly. For all intends and purposes they are good, hard working, loyal, salt of the Earth people and I am proud to call them friends. I am sure many of you are in the same situation.

I even find that I don’t always disagree with their political views and in many cases they don’t disagree with me either. In fact I am sure that if you ask your National voting friends if they want assets sold, nature reserves destroyed, banks plundering the country and the rich earning more and more while their wages stay stagnant they would agree with you that these are crazy politics!

So if, like me, you are at a loss as to why reason should fly out the door the moment you hit on the subjects of party politics here are four videos of…

On Thursday, 2 October, five police arrived at my home with a warrant to search and seize property. I was in Auckland at the time for two days of lectures at the University of Auckland. The police spent over ten hours searching the house and removing property in an attempt to discover the identity of the person who provided information used in my book Dirty Politics.

Soon after the police arrived, the lead detective stated that I was not a suspect in their case, merely a witness. I spoke to him by phone and informed him that he would find no information in the house about my source. Nonetheless, he and his four colleagues seized a large collection of papers and electronic equipment belonging to my family, including computers, drives, phones, CDs, an IPOD and a camera.